Matsu Biennial 2023

Art Festival for Lienchiang County Government and The General Association of Chinese Culture

Matsu Biennial is a 10 year, 5 part aspirational plan to provide lasting foundations for social design. Its 70 works of mixed-media art and cross-disciplinary creation across 9 curatorial projects take on the challenges of sustainable regional development. Matsu's Cold-War era tunnels, war zone archives, Eastern Min tradition, architecture, and language sees 200 households practicing winemaking tradition, inspiring the theme Ruby Red After Summer. The Biennial transforms art into the yeast to give rise to suppressed voices and turn Matsu into a base for art and design.

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Unique Properties

Matsu Biennial restores the suppressed voices and self-evident culture of Matsu's unique Cold-War heritage and war zone administration period. Unlike typical art festivals, the Biennial is a 10-year project across 5 planned biennials to involve experts and provide integrated design solutions. Cultural governance and design thinking are made part of policymaking to advance art and education. The Biennial is a long-term cultural movement through site translation, cultural tours, and co-creation.

Tags

Matsu Biennial, art festival, cultural heritage, Cold War, public branding, community design, social design, design education

Production Technology

Based on past studies of Matsu's military and cultural heritage, the Biennial invites locals and experts to co-create 70 works across 9 curation projects of architecture, art, food, and performance. Crossing contemporary mediums with traditional arts, it connects and revitalizes local traditions. Highlights include Underwater Lab and The Island Scene, featuring technology art, video, sculpture, traditional papercutting art, and military site installations, creating key landscapes on the island.

Design Challenge

The goal of the Biennial is to revive tangible/intangible heritage. Winemaking became the theme to resonate culturally and military sites have been revitalized. The challenge is to instill cultural identification locally, preserving and innovating with experts to increase local participation and communications by social design. As a cultural movement, the Biennial engages with residents, delivering posters to 3800 households and embedding its processes in art curriculums and development workshops.

Project Duration

The 2nd Matsu Biennial "Ruby Red After Summer" opens from Sept. 23 to Nov. 12,2023 at the 4 townships and 5 islands of Matsu. In 2007, a comprehensive survey of Matsu's local heritage and cultural landscape was initiated. In 2019, planning for the 1st Matsu Biennial started, and in 2020, a stronghold redesign campaign movement was launched, leading up to the opening of 2 military sites for the 2nd Matsu Biennial.

Operation Flow

Addressing issues through social design, the Biennial adopts 5 principal designs of engagement—creating dialogue with the community and developing local characteristics; sustainability—design with a 10-year vision; planning—continued concern for society through art practice; spatial governance—design on the scale of architectural contexts; and culture—design to transform organizational cultures and create an environment conducive to art and design.

Research

The Matsu Biennial 2023 is based on past surveys of local heritage. Its theme Ruby Red After Summer honors the tradition of winemaking in Matsu to "ferment art". In 2007, a comprehensive survey of the islands recorded 146 military installations. In 2019, 13 military sites were selected for revitalization studies. Surveys on local contexts, archives, and interviews collected local issues and cultural highlights of Matsu’s sites including crafts, and food, forming the basis for the Biennial.

Inspiration

UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity considers cultural diversity as legacy, promoting peace through dialog. Villages and towns nowadays host large-scale art festivals to revitalize local industries and culture, driving local participation and bolstering the regional brand. Accordingly, Matsu Biennial adopts the core concept of "social design", creating public branding for sustainable governance and using art curation to highlight the significance of Matsu's Cold-War heritage.

Image Credits

Matsu Biennial

Project Overview

Matsu Biennial 2023 Art Festival has been a Iron winner in the Event and Happening Design award category in the year 2023 organized by the prestigious A' Design Award & Competition. The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.

Iron Recognition

Matsu Biennial was recognized with the coveted Iron A' Design Award in 2024, a testament to excellence of their work Matsu Biennial 2023 Art Festival.

Matsu Biennial Newsroom

Dive into Matsu Biennial Newsroom to explore celebrated designs and projects.